The day after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker scored his big win on Tuesday, the nation was awash in commentary about the Big Lessons.

It was a sign of a conservative resurgence. It shows that voters hate unions. It spells trouble for President Obama. It was all about outside money.

All of that seemed to miss a central point that is perhaps more obvious to New Jerseyans who lived through the great debate last year over pension and health benefits: Could it be that Wisconsin voters saw they could not afford to pay the benefits that had been promised?

That is not conservative or liberal; it is practical. It is not about ideology; it is about math.
True, conservatives want to use the savings to cut taxes and liberals want to spend more on health care and education. But who believes an army of public employees should retire at age 55, with free medical care for life and a fat buyout from unused sick days — especially when middle-class taxpayers foot the bill?

In New Jersey, unlike Wisconsin, the reform was the result of a bipartisan effort. Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, started the campaign in 2006, long before Gov. Chris Christie arrived. The reform succeeded only because Democratic leaders had the guts to push it, against the will of the unions and the majority of their own legislators, and because Christie was willing to compromise to get it done. The reform here was broadly popular and its support is stable.

Walker chose a different path. On a party-line vote, he rammed through a far more extreme measure, one that essentially killed collective bargaining and defanged the unions. This was not just about money; it was about resetting the political table in Wisconsin.

That’s made Walker a hero on the tea party circuit, but it has also infuriated nearly half the state. With this scorched-earth extremism, he personifies what’s wrong with politics in America today.

For the independent Wisconsin voter, that presented a dilemma. Rebuking Walker would mean rebuking the reforms that have solid public support.

This was no sign of a conservative resurgence, or a shot across Obama’s bow. In exit polls, he had a solid lead over Mitt Romney among the same voters who backed Walker.